Spieling with the New King of Heeb-Hop

Some call him Shek. Others call him Chamishim, the Hebrew word for fifty. To his growing crowd of fans, he is 50 Shekel, the hottest name in Heeb-Hop. Using an obvious play on the name of the popular rapper 50 Cent, 50 Shekel (the shekel is the form of currency in Israel) hopes to forge a link from Jewish teens to their ancient faith.

Aviad Cohen, the 28-year-old Israeli-American mastermind behind 50 Shekel, never intended to be a role model, despite his early attraction to entertainers with a positive message. Instead, he says, his act grew out of a deep love for Judaism's long tradition of keeping history alive. Rap, he says, is "a great storytelling medium."

Along the way, Shekel seems to delight in making witty parallels to mainstream rap, throwing around the term "chewitz" (short for Manischewitz, a Passover wine), the way cognac appears on traditional rap albums. "You can find me in da shul, praying after school/ Honey I got the chewitz if you're jumping in my pool." Shekel raps, "I'm just into making peace, I ain't into causing trub/So come give me a hug, if you're into getting love."

"'In da Club' inspired me to do something with rap," Cohen says. "50 Cent talks about what he knows. I choose to talk about what I know."

Mixing pop music and religion is nothing new. The Christian music industry has created major stars Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith and music generates nearly 20 percent of Christian outlets' sales. Shekel's predecessors in Jewish music include bands like 2 Live Jews and Craig Taubman, who combines traditional themes with a modern sound.

Raised a Conservative Jew in Tel Aviv and Brooklyn, Cohen moved to Los Angeles about seven years ago, hoping to go into entertainment. He landed a job as a directors assistant and post-production supervisor, working on music videos for Christina Aguilera and other top artists.

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